Tuesday, 24 September 2013

Hera

Hera

Hera was daughter of Cronus and Rhea. Greek queen of the gods and sister-wife of Zeus. Being a daughter of Cronus she, like his other children was swallowed by her father, but afterwards released. Rhea was worshiped as queen of heaven and patron of marriage and woman.

Hera and Zeus

She was usually depicted as a beautiful woman wearing a crown and holding a royal, lotus tipped staff. Sometimes she held a royal lion or had a cuckoo or hawk as her familiar. Hera also held the title Eileithyia, the goddess of birth. Her sacred animal was the cow. In literature she was depicted as a jealous wife who vindictively pursued the woman Zeus seduce.